Coldham's Common is a 49.3 hectare Local Nature Reserve in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. It is owned and managed by

Cambridge City Council Cambridge City Council is the local authority for Cambridge, a non-metropolitan district with city status in the United Kingdom, city status in Cambridgeshire, England. The council has been under Labour Party (UK), Labour majority control since ...

. This site has areas of unimproved grassland, which have anthills of

yellow meadow ant The yellow meadow ant (''Lasius flavus''), also known as the yellow hill ant, is a species of ant occurring in Europe (where it is one of the most common ants), Asia, and North Africa. As of 2018, populations in North America are considered a di ...

s. There is also scrub and woodland. Flora include spiny rest harrow,

upright brome ''Bromus erectus'', commonly known as erect brome, upright brome or meadow brome, is a dense, course, tufted perennial grass. It can grow to . Like many brome grasses the plant is hairy. The specific epithet ''erectus'' is Latin, meaning "erect". ...

and bee orchid. There is access from Coldham's Lane.

History

Coldham's Green was marked on a field map of 1300, and by 1700 it had become a Green Common. In the 19th century a rifle range was built there, but this was soon displaced by a new railway line to Newmarket.
Coldham’s Common Management Plan 2016 – 2026
', Cambridge City Council 2016, accessed 2024-10-17

References

External links

Friends of Coldham's Common
Local Nature Reserves in Cambridgeshire {{Europe-protected-area-stub